Paintbrush guard



Feb. 5, 1952 E. A. SEEBER PAINTBRUSH GUARD Filed July 22, 1947 INVENTOR. EUGENE A. SEEBER ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 5, 1952 EJNITED STATES-"*- assastt TNT OFFICE Claims. 1 The present invention relates to paint brushes and to guards therefor.

It is practically impossible for the ordinary householder to paint the trim around the glass of a window or of a door without getting paint on the glass. In fact, it is difficulteven for a skilled painter to avoid smearing the glass, when painting sash or trim, unless he exercises special care, which, of course, slows up the job.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a guard which may be secured a paint brush and which will enable even an unskilled person to paint trim and other fine work rapidly without danger of smearing adjacent surfaces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guard of this nature which is simple in construction and therefore cheap in cost and which may readily be manipulated without removal from the brush to permit use of the brush either for painting trim or for ordinary purposes.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a paint brush equipped with a guard constructed according to the present invention, and with the guard in operative position; v

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the brush and guard with the guard in operative position, parts being broken away to show the structureof the guard;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the brush and guard showing in full lines the guard withdrawn to inoperative position and in dotted lines one of the intermediate positions of. movement of the guard between operative and inoperative positions; and i Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing by numerals of reference, B denotes the paint brush which may be of any conventional form and consists of a handle H, the end of which is broken away, the bristles R, and the head portion F, in which the bristles are secured, and which is generally formed of metal and which is fastened to the handle H in any suitable manner.

The device of the present invention comprises a body member [0 and a guard plate ll which is movably mounted thereon. Both of these are preferably formed of sheet metal.

The body member H] has ears [2 formed inte'gral therewith on opposite sides thereof which are adapted partially to embrace and project beyond opposite sides of the head F' of the brush The body member [0 is also formed at opposite sides with a pair of downturned ears 20. These are adjacent its forward end and are adapted to lie alongside the opposite sides of the bristle portion of the brush. The body member is adapted to be secured to the head portion F of the brush by a strap Hi, and by bolts l5 and nuts [6. The strap i l seats against one side of the head F of the brush, and the body member I0 against the other side of head F. The bolts [5 pass through alined holes in the ears i2 and strap l4 and when the nuts K5 are threaded up on the bolts, the body member It is rigidly clamped to the brush.

Pivotally connected by pins 2| to the ears 20 are link members 22. These link members are pivotally connected. at their opposite ends by means of a pin 24 to ears 25 that are bent upwardly at opposite sides of the guard plate H.

The body member H] has a tongue or lug 30 bent upwardly at its rear end, and the guard plate H has a tongue or lug 3| bent upwardly from it at its rear end. Each of these tongues has a hole disposed centrally in it. The hole in the tongue 38 is preferably elongated. It is denoted at 32 in Fig. 4.

Passing through the holes of the two tongues is an operating member 35 which may be made of stiff wire rod. This operating member is formed at its forward end with an eye or loop 36 that engages around the pin 24. It is formed at its rear end with an eye or loop 40 that provides a. handle or grip for manipulating it. It is bent between its ends to form an olfset portion whose sides 3? and 38 constitute limits or stops for holding the guard plate I I in inoperative and operative positions, respectively, The guard plate i l is wide enough to more than cover the full width of the bristles at one side of the brush. Its forward end I3 is flared outwardly to project well beyond the sides of the brush and is bent downwardly to cover substantially one side of the brush when in operative position. It leaves only the extreme tips of the bristles exposed at that side. The bend I3 allows painting right into a corner or right up to the edge of the glass without getting paint on the glass.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the guard plate II is shown in operative position. Here stop or bend 38 in the wire engages in front of lug 30 of body member it, looking the guard plate in position where it covers one side of the bristles R. When it is desired to move the guard plate from operative position, the painter lifts on grip 40 of rod 35 to disengage bend or stop 38 from lug 30, and he then pulls the rod 35 rearwardly, causing the stop to pass through elongated hole 32 in the 111$ 30.

The rearward movement of rod 35 causes the links 22 to be rocked clockwise about their pivot pins 2|, and the guard plate is simultaneously lifted upwardly, to clear the bristles R, and moved rearwardly.

Fig. 3 shows the guard plate at H in dotted lines in an intermediate position of its movement between operative and inoperative positions. It will be seen that the links 22 serve to move the guard plate completely away from the bristles during its rearward movement. The inoperative position of the guard plate is shown in full lines in Fig. 3. The plate may be locked in this position by drawing rod 35 far enough to the right to pass bend or stop 31 through hole 32 in lug 30, and to engage this bend or stop 31 behind, that is to the right of, lug 30.

In use, when a person is painting trim, the painter moves the guard plate to inoperative position and dips his brush in the paint. Then he moves the guard plate back to operative position and looks it thereby engaging stop 38 in front, that is to the left of, lug 313. Then he paints along the trim with the brush so held that the guard plate is between the trim and the glass or other surface which is to be protected. The guard plate keeps the bristles from touching the surface which it is desired to protect.

Usually, one dip of the brush is enough to paint trim along one side of a window or door. When more paint is required, the painter moves rod 35 rearwardly to retract the guard plate. It will be noted, as already stated, that the guard plate is lifted by links 22 clear of the bristles as it moves rearwardly. This is a very important feature of the present invention for it prevents the guard plate from being dragged rearwardly over the bristles. If this happened its front edge would become smeared with paint and that in turn would smear the glass or other surface which it is desired to protect.

To further safeguard against getting paint on the guard plate, the front edge of body member I is bent inwardly as indicated at I8. This serves to put a pressure on the bristles to hold them away from the guard plate.

When it is desired to use the paint brush for painting flat surfaces, it is not necessary to take the guard oi? the brush. The guard plate can simply be retracted to its inoperative position as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and locked in that position by engaging stop 3T behind lug 30.

The device of this invention is simple, easy to manipulate, and permits any layman to paint sash or other trim. The tedious, irksome task of getting paint off the glass, after painting the sash, which was always a concomitant of previous practice, is completely obviated through use of the present attachment.

As used in the description and claims the terms operative position and advanced position of the guard plate mean the position in which the guard plate extends over the bristle portion of the brush at one side thereof. In this position the guard plate prevents the bristles at this side of the brush from contacting a surface adjacent to that which is being painted. The guard plate is shown in this position in Figs. 1 and Similarly, as used in the description and claims the terms inoperative position and retracted position of the guard plate mean the position in which the guard plate is withdrawn to uncover the bristle portion of the brush. This position is shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

" While the invention has been described in connection with one embodiment thereof, it is capa-- ble of further modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A guard for paint brushes comprising a part adaptedto be secured to the head of a brush, a guard plate, a pair of links, each of which is pivotally connected at one end to the guard plate adjacent the rear end thereof and each of which is pivotally connected at its opposite end to the first-named part adjacent the forward end thereof, and a pull rod secured to the guard plate for rocking said links to effect pivotal movement of the guard plate into or out of operative position.

2. A guard for paint brushes comprising a part adapted to be secured to the head of a brush, a guard plate, a pair of links, each of which is pivotally connected at one end to the guard plate adjacent the rear end thereof and each of which is pivotally connected at its opposite end to the first-named part adjacent the front end thereof, a manually operable pull rod secured to the guard plate for rocking said links to move the guard plate into or out of operative position, and means for lockin the guard plate in operative and in inoperative positions.

3. A guard for paint brushes comprisin a plate adapted to be secured to the head of a brush and a guard plate movably mounted on the first plate, a pair of links, each of which is pivotally connected at one end to an edge of the first plate, a pin for pivotally connecting the other ends of the links to the respective edges of the second plate, a pull-rod secured at one end to said pin and having an ofiset portion between its ends whose sides are parallel, guide-lugs secured to each of the two plates and having holes therein through which the pull-rod is mova ble, said offset portion being so disposed that the sides thereof may be engaged, respectively, with opposite sides of one of said guide-lugs to lock the guard plate in operative or inoperative position.

e. A guard for paint brushes comprising a plate adapted to be secured to the head of a brush and having its forward end bent inwardly to apply pressure on the bristles at one side of the brush, a guard plate mounted on the first plate at said side of the brush for bodily movement relative to the first part so that it may be advanced over the bristles of the brush or retracted to expose the bristles and overlie the first plate, and means for moving the guard plate away from the said side of the brush as it is moved to retracted position, said guard plate being of greater width than the bristles to cover the bristles at one side of the brush and having its forward end bent inwardly to apply pressure to the bristles when in advanced position.

5. A guard for paint brushes comprising a part adapted to be secured to the head of a brush, a guard plate mounted on said part for pivotal and translatory movement from a retracted position overlying said part to'a forward position covering'the bristle portion of the brush at one side 5 thereof, and manually operable means connected to said guard plate for effecting the said movement thereof, said guard plate being of a width for the whole of its length at least as great as the width of the bristle portion of the brush so that when the guard plate is in its forward position it will cover said bristle portion at said one side thereof.

EUGENE A. 'SEEBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Parks Dec. 6, 1898 Swanson Feb. 14, 1905 Quigg Mar. 14, 1916 Nitz July 2,1929 Wellington Sept. 17, 1929 Weber Oct. 11, 1932 Archer Oct. 10, 1939 

